Cookies
This forum uses cookies. Some cookies may have been set already. Click here to read about our use of cookies.If you are logged in please click the red X button on the right to accept our cookies and remove this message.If you continue to use the forum, we will assume you are happy to accept the cookies anyway.If you are not happy to accept the cookies you must stop using the forum and delete our cookies from your browser.(Our use of cookies has not changed, however we are now legally obliged to inform you of their use and gain your consent).

Hints, Tips and Solutions (Do NOT post requests for help here)If you have any useful general hints and tips for vintage technology repair and restoration, please share them here. PLEASE DO NOT POST REQUESTS FOR HELP HERE!

Often we see posts where it's only too easy to go OT offering ideas on making these work better. So here's what I've found in my years on the bench and in the field.

Solder suckers work best with lubrication and some form of heat resistant oil works wonders. In one factory, I worked in we found a tin of gun oil and tried it out on ours. These days I use WD 40 or similar.

As for the tip deforming with heat - stick a Hellerman sleeve on it. Better suction and if it burns - cut the burnt bit off.

Tip a bit slow to heat up- dip it in a pot of flux.

Add some solder + flux to the joint to get it flowing.

And if all fails, and it's a small board- heat the solder up and flick off the excess on a waste surface.

Yes, an H30 sleeve over the PTFE nozzle is the classic method of improving the small hand-pump types.
It's also worth noting that Hellerman silicone oil is ideal for lubricating the workings of the sucker after a strip-down and cleaning session.

I’ve entirely stopped using them now after about 20 years. Turns out lots of little blobs of solder make an appearance when you rearm it and then fall out on the board you are working on. This recently caused the magic smoke to come out of a TSSOP package for me. Took me a while to see it but a piece had actually got under the legs of the package.

I use both desoldering pumps and decent desoldering braid. The pump can be problematic on boards with small soldered joints and the obvious risk of short circuits fron stray solder from the nozzle. If the pump is used at a suitable angle then the risk is minimised. In any case the board has a thorough inspection and a good brushing before the power is applied.

For old equipment with large soldered joints I mostly use the pump and in some cases further clean the pads with the braid. For more modern equipment it's mostly the braid that's used. It's really horses for courses, so use both methods according to the job in hand.

I'm always surprised that the suckers work as well as they do. I've never used a lubricant in one; is it possible that it will get bits of solder sticking to it which could impair the seal - hard to say, so worth trying.

The braid is wonderful... when it's new. I think someone on here recently suggested that the Servisol braid has a better than average lifespan?

B

__________________
We know there are known unknowns. But there are unknown unknowns – ones we don't know we don't know.

My old AB /abeco solder sucker (RS green one) is rarely used these days. I wore my original one out, and after finding they dont do spare parts for them, bought a new one from RS, it dodnt work, had it replaced under warranty, that didnt work either, then another, then gave up. The tips didn't last, the springs broke, the little push buttons wore away and the central ejector pin used to get coated in solder that could only be melted off with a blowtorch. I discovered the design had been bought by a company in Malta.

On vintage consumer equipment PCB's with wide tracks, I melt the solder with an ordinary iron then blow it away with a jet of compressed air, which has the advantage of cooling things down.

I've been warned that the displaced solder will form conductive bridges all other the place. This doesn't seem to happen though. The solder kind of granulates and is easily brushed off with an old tooth brush.

On my cheapy the nozzle gets blocked with solder which needs un-blocking by pushing a rat tailed file down it; it works ok though.

I have a heated one, cheap ebay jobbie, which is good for de capping PCB's and other big stuff, though the tip gets very hot.

I've found braid sometimes needs a lot of heat and is a bit fiddly.

For tag board I heat the solder up with an iron and a sharp tap on the edge of the bench gets rid of excess solder. Component leads can then be unwound with the joint cold. I don't wrap the new component leads round the tags, just a 90 degree bend does the job.

Comedy packaging you will find if you order it from RS. It usually comes in a massive cardboard box with a thick wodge of hazardous materials documentation.

Hi

CPC are usually good at comedy packaging as we know!
Their cheap aluminium desoldering pump http://cpc.farnell.com/duratool/zd-1...ing/dp/SD01154 works surprisingly well and is easy to dismantle for cleaning. They're so cheap I keep a few in stock.
I also found the green aluminium RS pump to be poor compared to the one I used back in the 1980's. The new one blocked far too easily for my liking even on quite small soldered joints. There is a subtle difference in appearance between the two pumps. I'll try to find them and check the differences.

All information and advice on this forum is subject to the WARNING AND DISCLAIMER located at https://www.vintage-radio.net/rules.html.Failure to heed this warning may result in death or serious injury to yourself and/or others.